Entirely New

Friday, March 19th, 2010 | Lent Meditations

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price… -1 Cor 6:19-20

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you know that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of–throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself!” -C.S. Lewis, Counting the Cost

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God… -2 Cor 5:17-18

God wants to re-create us, to make us a new creation in Christ. We are like clay being shaped by the Potter (Is 64:8). We are like silver or gold refined in a fire until it is pure (Zech 13:9, Job 23:10). Each of these metaphors is not only constructive, but also destructive. For something to be re-created, it must first be destroyed. For clay to be shaped, it must be pounded. For gold to be refined, it must be melted and purified by fire.

To continue the refining gold analogy: We don’t need a little polishing; we need a complete melting and recasting. What things does God want to purify out of you? As He reshapes you, what do you think He wants the end result to look like? (If you’re not sure, check out Romans 8:29.)

The most beautiful part of all of this is that God is reshaping us so that we are ready to be His temple, His home. As Lewis said, He intends to come and live in us Himself!

Father God, please help me today to submit to your reshaping work in my life, even when the process is painful. Thank you for preparing me so that I can be your home.

Tags: Lent 2010